Rogers Corporation

Good afternoon. My name is John, and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Rogers Corporation December Investor and Analyst Conference Call. And I will now turn the call over to your host, Mr. Steve Haymore, Director of Investor Relations. Thank you, Mr. Haymore. You may begin.

Thank you, and good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to the Rogers Corporation December Investor and Analyst Conference Call. The slides accompanying today's call can be found on the Investors section of our website. Before we begin, I would like to note that statements in this conference call that are not strictly historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and should be considered as subject to the many uncertainties that exist in Roger's operations and environment. These uncertainties include economic conditions, market demands, and competitive factors. Such factors could cause actual results to differ materially from those in any forward-looking statement. Also, the discussions during this conference call may include certain financial measures that were not prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Reconciliation of those non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures can be found in the slide deck for today's call. With me today is Bruce Hoechner, President and CEO, Colin Gavea, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EMS, who will become President and CEO following Bruce's retirement on December 31st, and Ram Mayampouris, Senior Vice President and CFO. I will now turn the call over to Bruce.

Thanks Steve. Hello everyone and thank you for joining. Today we want to take the opportunity to reconnect with our shareholders to discuss what Rogers has accomplished over the past year, the initiatives we've implemented to optimize our operations, and how we plan to capitalize on the opportunities ahead. Before we dive in, I'd like to provide more details on the executive transition we announced a few weeks ago. Over the past decade, Rogers has transformed itself into a highly respected, growth-oriented, innovative global specialty materials company. I am extremely proud of what we have accomplished, and after leading Rogers for more than 11 years, I believe that now is the right time for a new leader to take the helm. I will be retiring at the end of the year, and the board is named Colin as the next CEO. This announcement was the culmination of a thoughtful and robust succession planning process undertaken by the board to ensure continuity of leadership and ongoing success for the company. I've known Colin for almost 20 years, having worked with him here at Rogers as well as other companies. For those who don't know Colin, he joined Rogers in 2019 to lead our elastomeric material solutions or EMS business following an extensive career in specialty chemicals and material manufacturing. Throughout his tenure, Colin has made significant contributions to Rogers. More specifically, he has led the development of Rogers' overall strategy to capitalize on the EV opportunity, and he has positioned Rogers to be a leader in these markets. Another core responsibility of Colin's has been driving the company's M&A strategy with a focus on expanding our capabilities and product portfolio in key global markets. This includes the recent acquisition of Silicon Engineering, which Colin will discuss more later in the call. His experience building global, cross-functional, and collaborative teams has been critical. Within EMS, he has focused the business to be more market-driven, optimize the R&D structure, fixed operations issues, and successfully integrated silicon engineering. These efforts have been a catalyst for the nearly 20% growth in EMS revenue since 2019. The broader business has benefited greatly from his operational expertise and leadership, as he has executed on plans to improve the processes, tools, and the teams in place across Rogers. His understanding of our business and markets and relevant technologies will be critical as Rogers continues to build on its strategic plan and deliver long-term value to shareholders. I am confident in the company's future under Colin's leadership and look forward to witnessing Rogers' success for many years to come. Now turning to the business. For 190 years, Rogers has been forward thinking, identifying and acting upon industry trends as well as technology advancements to enable our growth. Since I became CEO in 2011, we have oriented our business and product portfolio around high value growth opportunities to profitably expand the business. With unmatched market leadership positions, a strong financial profile, and an experienced leadership team, we have an excellent foundation to drive long-term growth and value. For those new to Rogers, we are an agile, innovative, and reliable partner for leaders in the automotive, aerospace and defense, clean energy, and portable electronics industries. Colin will provide more details on the fast-growing opportunities we have in EV, ADAS, and other markets later in the call. At its core, Rogers is a materials technology company and our deep portfolio of highly engineered solutions across our EMS and advanced electronic solutions or AES business units enables us to establish unrivaled market positions. We have developed the technical expertise and innovation capabilities to help our diverse customer base solve some of their toughest challenges. Our deep bench of material science experts collaborate directly with customers to create differentiated solutions. These capabilities have been on full display during this past year as we have captured major design wins across our business. This is especially true in the EV space where we have secured significant standard setting wins by leveraging our battery and power electronic solutions to address the challenges of global automotive leaders. We are focused on developing the right products for the right markets. Additionally, our strong financial profile allows us to invest for the future. Over the past year, we have not slowed our investments. In fact, our investments have increased. Seventy percent of our CapEx this year has gone towards new capacity and regional expansions to capitalize on the accelerating EV opportunity. Our investments are not limited only to new factories, but also in R&D and other capabilities that will support the growth and scaling of the business. Finally, execution will be critical for Rogers' next chapter. We have a deep leadership bench with the right mix of experience and industry knowledge to support the company's growth plans. This team is highly dedicated and prepared to move the company forward. To wrap up, I am proud of the work that our more than 3,600 employees have done to execute against our strategy and lay important groundwork for the continued success of Rogers. We have not only delivered tremendous value to our stakeholders over many years, but through it all, we have maintained our integrity and commitment to safety and sustainability. I know I am leaving the company with a strong foundation and in the hands of a talented team as Rogers enters its next chapter. This will be my final call with the investment community. I've enjoyed our many conversations over the past 11 years, and I appreciate your time and commitment to understanding our business. I'd also like to thank our customers across the globe. I greatly appreciate your support and partnership, and I'm incredibly proud that Rogers was able to play a small role in your success. Finally, to each of our Rogers employees across the world, I want you to know that it's been an honor and a privilege to work with you. The commitment and hard work that define the Rogers culture is highly unique, and I will always be grateful for everything you've done to better our company. Thank you. With that, I'd like to turn it over to our next CEO, Colin.